This plant has been cultivated for its medicinal properties since pioneer times. It has escaped from gardens to barnyards, roadsides, open woods, and woods pastures. I have found it to be common in hogyards where the hogs had killed all other vegetation without disturbing this plant.

Wiggins 1964

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Perennial exotic herb from a taproot; stems several, prostrate to ascending-erect, 20-100 cm long/tall, densely white wooly. Leaves: Opposite, blades 1-6 cm long, conspicuously wrinkled, ovate to round, with crenate margins; generally green and pubescent above, white wooly below. Flowers: Whorled in globular clusters in leaf axils, with spiny calyces; corolla 5-10 mm long, whitish. Fruits: 4 nutlets Ecology: On disturbed ground from 2,000-7,500 ft (610-2285 m); flowers April-October. Distribution: Introduced to N. Amer., except Alberta, Manitoba, ND, LA and FL ; south to S. Amer.; throughout the world on every continent. Notes: Distinguished by pungent-smelling, noticeably wrinkly, thick soft leaves and white-wooly pubescence on the whitish stems and undersides of leaves; and the inflorescences in verticils surrounding stems in dense clusters. This introduced perennial can form dense stands at mid-elevations in disturbed areas. Ethnobotany: Herb is useful in tincture form to alleviate lung congestion. Species is sometimes substituted in brewing in place of hops. Navajo use it to treat indigestion, stomachache, influenza, colds, coughs, sore throats, and general aches and pains. It is also used in childbirth. Can be boiled to make a tea, sugar added, and hardened to make cough drops. Etymology: Possibly from the Hebrew for -bitter juice-. Vulgare is ancient word for common. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015